


The Strength Of A Mother

by KyeAbove, Ohaymikoto



Series: Gilded Child [2]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Past Character Death, Trisha Elric Was A Good Mom, baby drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23265688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyeAbove/pseuds/KyeAbove, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohaymikoto/pseuds/Ohaymikoto
Summary: Sequel toGilded ChildThe Elric brothers look after their baby half-sister while her mother takes a nap.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric
Series: Gilded Child [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1692328
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	The Strength Of A Mother

**Author's Note:**

> After the unexpected response to Gilded Child, we felt that it certainly did need a small sequel.

A week had passed since the life changing revelation of their half sister. The Elric brothers have been in regular contact with her mother, who they now knew was named Nicole Flanagan. She was a woman in her early thirties and generally kept to herself and supported herself. She seemed rather jaded and experienced so they were glad their father hadn't take advantage of someone younger and impressionable. Edward admired her general distasteful for Hohenheim especially.

But they could tell that having Emma was draining a lot of her energy and wondered how to help her. So it was Ed who suggested they look after Emma for an afternoon while Nicole had a well deserved nap, which was why they were now trying to calm a fussy baby with an impressive set of lungs. Ed and Al did not know much about caring for babies. It was at these moments they wished they had paid attention when their mother had parented them, instead of being just as fussy.

They had checked if she needed a new diaper but it was all clean. Making funny faces didn't work to cheer her up. Cuddling didn't work either. So they just couldn't translate her wails into a meaningful solution.  
  
"Is she hungry!?" Ed tried to guess, despite the ear piercing sounds.

"Miss Nicole fed her before her nap though." Al was so confused. Weren't babies like kittens and only needed to be fed every couple of hours? Al tried to think of any hidden baby knowledge that he had but came up as blank as Ed seemed to be.

The armored boy looked down at the wailing infant and saw how she was confusedly patting at Ed's chest.

"She could be hungry after all."

"Well I sure as hell can't feed her."

"Well don't look at me for that either, brother."

Ed's arms were growing tired from holding her squirming form so decided to gently lay Emma down on the couch, on top of a blanket Nicole made herself. Nicole made her living making and repairing clothes and other fabrics and had already offered to properly add more fabric to Ed's coat, as the fabric was starting to run thin from all the times Ed used alchemy to repair it. She is clearly talented, from the blanket alone. Emma would have a good parent to teach her skills. Ed did ponder then the idea that she could grow up to be an alchemist too. At the very least, it was in her blood, and she'd have two alchemist brothers showing off their skills to her. 

Emma meanwhile recognized the blanket, or more specifically, the smell of it. It smelled like her mom. The baby girl took a part of it into her fists and pulled it close, her wails turning into soft hiccups. She just wanted her mom. The brothers were relieved she was quieting down.

"Did she...want the blanket?" Al asked hesitantly.

"Or something about the blanket, at least."

Both brothers either way collapsed into separate armchairs. Al didn't even have a body and he felt exhausted. He never imagined babies could drain this much energy from a person. He hoped he was in his thirties too by the time he had kids. Even though Nicole seemed exhausted too at that age, Al would hate to raise a baby at this age just that much more. Ed seemed to agree as he fully slumped over and looked like he could take a nap too, but instead kept a strong eye on Emma. 

He looked at the infant and gets these fuzzy recollections of when Al was that small. He'd seen pictures of Al at that age too, clarifying the memories. Emma did fall closer to looking like Al, than Ed. Ed found that to be a good thing. If she took more after him then she might cursed with a short height like him. He'd rather his little sister get to be tall, if he couldn't be.

Emma had now properly fallen asleep much to their relief. They wondered how Nicole managed more than ten minutes when they had barely managed in that time. The strength of a mother, they figured. It made them even more happy to have once had their own mother. She sacrificed so much for them. And once she was gone they lost their guiding light. They hoped their sister won't have to suffer such a loss herself so early in her life. 

In her bedroom they now heard Nicole's light snoring, as she had been tired enough to sleep all through this. When she woke up they would thank her for her efforts, especially since they never got to properly thank their own mother. 


End file.
